AktiveHate - Forgotten Evils

In 2010, Portuguese act AktiveHate released the brilliant 'In Terrorem', an album that made a truly unique contribution to the aggrotech/harsh EBM genres. A year later came 'Forgotten Evils', a six-track EP comprised of B-sides and older songs. It's AktiveHate's way of tiding fans over as they await the act's second full-length album, which they've promised will arrive in early 2012.

It's always interesting to hear songs that a band considers to be B-sides. Personally, I sometimes wonder what made the members categorize songs as such - why those songs didn't make the cut when it came to creating an album. This is certainly the case with some of the songs on 'Forgotten Evils'. Admittedly, the songs on this album don't reach the level that most of the songs on 'In Terrorem' achieve, but AktiveHate still manages to show yet again that they are an innovative act that really has something to say (and they always say it angrily or despairingly - sometimes both).

AktiveHate has a real talent for layering sounds. This comes through strongly on 'Forgotten Evils', particularly in "Shut Up", "Dead Eyes" (they've handled the layering flawlessly in this song, making for some unique and unexpected moments), and "L.M.T.H.A.". Speaking of "L.M.T.H.A.", I have to draw particular attention to this one. It's the best song on the album, opening with full, reverberating synths, followed by a sick bass line, which is strengthened later when things change up a bit and some drum/cymbal action is thrown in. My favorite element of the song, though, is the incongruously happy and poppy keyboard refrain that accompanies the angry lyrics during the chorus. Very well done.

Instrumental breaks are common throughout the songs on 'Forgotten Evils' - another thing that AktiveHate has a real knack for. While these sans-vocals moments tend to be rather short (which isn't a bad thing), they're usually followed by innovative changeups to the standard instrumentals that accompanied the vocals before the break. This is where the nice drum/cymbal bass beat kicks in on "L.M.T.H.A.", where there's a great alteration to the keyboard layer over the main refrain on "Precious", and where the heavily layered keyboards on "Dead Eyes" get even more complex than they were before.

Bottom line: AktiveHate has done it again. They just keep on churning out great music. No, 'Forgotten Evils' isn't as good as 'In Terrorem' (which was something special, particularly with its flawless use of guitar work), but it's not supposed to be. This is all about AktiveHate sharing some of the stuff they've had hidden away in the dark, perhaps collecting dust. Each of the songs on this album definitely deserve to see the light of day. I'm glad that they decided to pass around some hors d'oeuvres to us fans as we await their next album. That's something I'm looking forward to - and so should you. Until then, though, go to AktiveHate's website (http://www.aktivehate.com/) and download 'Forgotten Evils' for free. You won't be disappointed. AktiveHate is worth paying attention to consistently, with each and every release. Apr 05 2012